Fewer teams, round-robin needed: Plummer

AUSTRALIAN coach Norma Plummer wants to see changes to the draw
and fewer teams competing at the New Delhi Commonwealth Games in
2010.

Netball is catering for 12 teams at the Melbourne Games 
some of which face hefty defeats at the hands of the sport's power
nations  but Plummer wants to see the entries slashed to
eight.

She would also prefer a round-robin type format to ensure the
top nations met each other before the finals.

Plummer pointed to the likes of world No. 5 South Africa on the
opposite side of the draw and unlikely to meet her charges in
Melbourne.

"I think you should play everybody," she said. "I don't think we
should be here and not playing South Africa."

Playing an annual world series was also on her wish list, with
the best eight countries able to compete against each other more
often.

It would be a shot in the arm for the sport, which already has a
huge following at the Games despite some one-sided results, and it
would allow the smaller nations to regularly meet the big guns in a
bid to close the gap.

"There really needs to be something for these teams to play for
and I think a world series would mean regular top competition for
all teams," Plummer said.

Australia and main rival, New Zealand, have had comfortable
wins; their only concerns  keeping their squads intact
against the less-skilled minnows.

Plummer said she was mindful of her team staying injury-free,
having lost captain Liz Ellis and shooter Eloise Southby-Halbish
before the Games started.

"You don't want to lose a player under any circumstances," she
said. "We just try to be smart about it and it's just adjusting (to
the style) when it's necessary."

The Silver Ferns had one injury scare so far, with goal attack
Belinda Colling twice rolling her ankle.

Both sides face their toughest matches today, with Australia
against Samoa and the Ferns taking on South Africa.

However, with Australia taking on Samoa this afternoon,
Australian defender Janine Ilitch said the early matches gave the
team time to refine its game before a likely gold-medal showdown
with NZ.

From keeping opponents to six goals a quarter to learning to
combat unorthodox styles of play, Ilitch said there was enough to
be gained from matches.

"We're always trying to keep them to a certain score. I feel
like we're still working pretty hard.

"When we play national league, we play in a certain patterns.
They seem to have a lot shorter passes and a different style of
play. The ball seems to move very quickly and in an unorthodox
style," Ilitch said.

"Individually, everyone's got something to work on. Before each
game, we talk about one thing we'd like to do on court."

Ilitch said Australia, which had a secret slogan for its Games
campaign, also looked to completely dominate its opponents and
widen its winning margin as much as possible.